Walking Backwards - Episode 3
A friend from the past invites Drew to Houston where Drew meets someone new.
Welcome to the third episode of Walking Backwards, the third collection of not quite true tales of Texas. Previous collections are:
The Cold Days of Summer - If you are new to these tales and the type who likes to know how things started I would recommend starting here.
The Hollow Men - the second collection of not quite true tales of Texas.
New episodes are posted every Sunday. You can move easily between episodes via links to the previous and next episode.
If you are new to these not quite true tales of Texas but are the type who likes to dive right in I suggest you look at the prologue to Walking Backwards. The prologue provides a summary of the first two collections and descriptions of the major characters you will be reading about in Walking backwards.
Back in Episode 2 of Walking Backwards Drew is surprised by who he meets in the field (dream world), and what happens in the waking world.
In the darkest night, part two
I didn't have any work lined up the first week of February 1987 so when I got an invitation from Jason Kline to take a little time off I said yes quickly. Jason called me on the last Saturday in January. Jason had graduated with a Petroleum Engineering degree and was working at Exxon Production Research in Houston. He would be running a two week Well Logging course in Houston that was starting the first week of February. The course was going to be held off campus at an Embassy Suites hotel in southwest Houston starting Monday, February 2nd. One of the perks for running the course is that he had a suite at the hotel for the entire two weeks. His suggestion was for me to come to Houston Friday, February 6th, stay at the hotel, we would hang out, hit the Houston night spots, play some golf on the weekend, and have a good time on as much of Exxon's dime as we could. Sounded good to me. I had to figure out what to do with Sam but I was confident that Billy next door would be more than happy to take care of Sam while I was in Houston. I told Jason yes, but that I would confirm it all on Monday once I had firmed up my plans for Sam.
Sunday I asked Billy and his mom if they would take care of Sam. They said yes. When Jason called me from his hotel room Monday night I told him I would be there Friday evening. He warned me about the Houston traffic and suggested I get there in the early afternoon, otherwise I might spend hours fighting the traffic.
The traffic was bad, but I arrived at the hotel about 5:30 Friday evening. Jason was waiting for me in the atrium lobby.
“First things first, let's get your bags up to the room, then it is time for a few drinks.”
I had made it in time for the manager's reception: two hours of free snacks and drinks. By the time 7:30 rolled around we both had a decent buzz.
“We'll have some dead time before we go out, probably grab a bite to eat. There's not much point in going to any of the clubs until 9:00. We'll start at Desperados at Westheimer and Gessner, There's usually a good crowd there.”
We arrived via cab at Desperados a little after 9:00 pm. Jason was a cautious person, he saw no need to risk driving after the manager's reception or driving back after the night was done. Desperados was a mega-club, very large with a good sized dance floor. There was a large crowd and we spent the first 30 minutes walking around and checking out the sites. I was well into my third Desperados beer while Jason was still nursing his first when he nudged me with his elbow.
“Hey, check those two out.” I followed his line and saw two girls leaning against the rail and looking out on the dance floor. Their backs were to us but from what I could tell they were both cute.
“I like the one on the left. Drew, why don't you go talk to the one on the right?'
That was fine by me. The one on the right was the more attractive one to me.
“Sure, I'll talk to her.” That was the third beer talking, and the six or seven beers I had drank during the manager's reception, and the two beers I had drank at dinner. Yeah, I was feeling brave and I could have run into a wall and not felt any pain. I was in perfect condition for walking up and talking to a cute girl I did not know.
I walked over to the rail with my beer in hand as I scoped out the situation. She was wearing jeans, a nice cable knit sweater and boots, boots. I was wearing cords, boat shoes, a golf shirt, and a v-neck golf sweater. I sure as hell didn't look like her type. Then, to make things even better, I tripped, stumbled over to an empty spot next to her on the rail, leaned dangerously over the rail and managed to pull myself and my beer back without losing any beer or any more self-esteem. Yes, off to a good start.
She looked at me with disdain, maybe even a little disgust. I smiled back and said hello. She smiled, just a little. I was in.
“Hey, how are you doing?”
The look of disdain came back but there was something in her eyes that had my attention.
“Can I buy you a drink?”
“Sure, whiskey and water.”
Didn't expect that. I had expected wine, a wine spritzer, a sweet drink, not whiskey and water.
“Any particular brand?”
“Well whiskey will do fine.”
As I walked over to the bar I finished my beer. I ordered a whiskey and water and another beer. I'm going to do my best to provide all of the details of the night, but as fast as I was drinking I was destined for some lost memories.
Jason had already moved in on the other girl and was spinning his magic.
I handed her the whiskey and water, she smiled and we clanked glass and bottle.
“My name is Drew.”
She nodded and said “Ann Torrance.”
“So, what do you do, Ann?”
She looked at me for a long moment, sizing me up I guess, maybe seeing if it was worth talking to me.
“I teach photography and art at Katy High School.”
All right, another angle I could use.
“Hey, my sister teaches high school English and one of my close friends teaches at a junior high in our home town.”
“Where is that?”
“Odessa. Jason and I are both from there.” I nodded to Jason. “He's lives in Houston now. I live in Austin but I'm visiting him for the weekend. Are you from Houston? Where did you go to school?'
She shook her head no. “No, I'm from Freeport, you probably never heard of it and I graduated from Southwest Texas State in 1980.”
Two ins. Things were looking good.
“I know where Freeport is. Just south of Galveston, across the San Luis Pass.”
She stared at me and her smile seemed a little more genuine and warm.
“I drove through there this past summer. I took a driving trip down the coast starting at the Bolivar Peninsula, to Galveston, Surfside and Freeport, then inland to West Columbia and on down to Corpus Christi.”
Looked like I was on a roll so I just kept going. I told her about the bent trees of West Columbia and Hurricane Carla.
“I barely remember Carla. I was six, maybe seven. Our house flooded. Our neighbor was a shrimper. He was out in the Gulf when the storm came in and he nearly lost his life and his boat.”
Yes, it looked like I was in. Then, I nearly made a fateful mistake. I rattled off people I knew who had gone to Southwest Texas State. I started with Barry and Mark. Strike one and two. I named everyone I could think of and ran out of names with no success. She was getting bored with me. I thought about going back to Freeport and hoping I could get things back on track but then I remembered Barry and his fight with Jack-in-the-Box. Desperate, I swung for the fences.
“You know, a good friend of mine had a fight with a Jack-in-the-Box in San Marcos. He was a little too drunk early one Saturday morning, pulled into the drive thru a little too close and when he pulled away he dragged Jack-in-the-Box with him, out on the road and down the street.”
She stared at me.
“I was there! I was in that Jack-in-the-Box with a few of my friends. We heard the screech, saw the sparks and watched as that idiot dragged the Jack-in-the-Box out in the street. My God, he must have been drunk! What happened to him?”
“To Jack-in-the-Box or my friend?”
“You friend, oh, hell, Jack-in-the-Box too!”
“I'll start with Jack-in-the-Box, my friend dragged him to the next intersection then got out of his car and pulled Jack off his bumper. As for my friend, heh, he's a sportscaster in Corpus Christi. I visited him when I went to Corpus last summer.”
From that point on we talked as if we had known each other for years. I told her about me, what I had done, what I was doing. She was a little confused by the whole VP Tanks thing but she liked that I had gone back to college and graduated. She told me about growing up in Freeport. Though an industrial town like Odessa, it sounded like a much better, kinder, less harsh place to grow up than Odessa. She told me her father had died from cancer when she was 21. I told her my Dad had died nearly two years ago. She told me about her work and that she was sponsoring a photographic competition Saturday morning and because of that she would be leaving no later than 11:00 that night. I bought her a couple more drinks and I more than kept pace with her. Jason danced with her friend Mandy and I learned quite a bit about Mandy from Ann. It was Mandy who had talked Ann to come out that night. Since she had to work the next morning Ann had planned to have a quiet evening at her apartment. I told Ann that I was glad that Mandy had talked Ann into going out.
11:00 pm came too early, but Ann was true to her word. I asked Ann for her phone number and she gave me a deposit slip. I told her I would call her tomorrow after her competition. I walked Mandy and Ann out to Ann's car. At her car I got a brief kiss from Ann. They drove off and I went back in, had at least two more beers, maybe more, before Jason and I headed to another club.
Saturday morning came too early. It was painful. We did manage to sleep until 9:00 when Jason insisted we go down stairs for the free breakfast. He ate heartily but he had only a few drinks the night before. My count was well over a dozen beers and who knows how many I had during a short stretch of the night that I have no memory of. Nothing looked tasty that morning other than yogurt, cranberry juice, some tea and three Excedrin tablets.
All I could do was suffer that morning as we had nothing on the agenda until 1:30 pm when we had a tee off time at Memorial Park, a public golf course in Houston. Around 11:45 I called the number on the deposit slip. Ann answered.
“Hey, is this Ann?”
“Yes, who is this?”
“This is Drew, you remember, from last night at Desperados? How did the competition go?”
“I didn't think you would call. Most guys say they will call, but few do.”
“Except me. That ought to put me pretty high up in the rank of drunks you meet in Houston night clubs.”
She laughed and said “Yes, you're at the top, no doubt about it. When did you and your friend leave?”
“Around midnight, then we went to some other club. The night got a little hazy after that.”
“How are you feeling today?”
“Been better, been worse. In a few hours I'll probably feel alive.”
“Are you two going out tonight?”
“Yeah, Jason insists on showing me more of the night life. I think his goal is to make sure I'm nice and worn out before I head back to Austin sometime Sunday. What are you and Mandy doing tonight?”
“Mandy has a date. I'm driving down to Freeport to visit my mother and see some friends there.”
We talked for a few more minutes until Jason motioned that we needed to leave for Memorial Park. I said goodbye, and that I would call her soon but I'm sure she didn't believe me.
It was only after the second beer at Memorial Park that I began to feel a little bit human. The hamburgers at the course grill were great and as the last of the hangover cloud left my head I finally began to play halfway decent. Jason was a 90's golfer on a good day, but Memorial ate his lunch. It was clear that this was a good course, a little worn down, but it was a solid track.
Saturday night we went to three different night clubs. I drank too much again and Sunday morning was nearly as painful as Saturday morning had been. I had a good time but next time I was in Houston, which Jason insisted would be in March, I planned on being a little more sane and sober. Around 1:00 pm I started my drive back to Austin.
Back home in Austin Sam and I had a quiet dinner and around 7:00 pm I called Ann. She was surprised to hear from me but we talked for a good thirty minutes.
I had drank too much, but it had been a good weekend. Jason had been a good host and I liked Ann. I hadn't felt this way in a long time.
Unlike that last dark night, when I finally realized Andrea was lost to me, I found a light in the darkness in Ann. I now had to figure out a way to keep the light going.
Author’s note: You might be asking “What’s with these part n chapter titles?” Think of a chapter title like today’s “In the darkest night, part 2” as a very visible Easter Egg to an earlier chapter in these not quite true tales of Texas. The original “In the darkest night” chapter occurred in episode 11 of The Hollow Men as “Resolution, celebration in the darkest night.”
Next week in episode 4 of Walking Backwards Drew lines up more contract technical writing work, meets Ann on her own turf, catches Rick up on things and has a surprise visit from Jack Blessing.
nice to have a love interest